Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Water Disinfection Toward Escherichia coli by Nanowired g-C3N4 Film
Yizhu Zhang, Shi-Gang Su, Yuanyuan Zhang, Xia Zhang, Paolo Giusto, X.H. Huang, Jian Liu
Abstract
Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) as metal-free visible light photocatalyst has recently emerged as a promising candidate for water disinfection. Herein, a nanowire-rich superhydrophilic g-C 3 N 4 film was prepared by a vapor-assisted confined deposition method. With a disinfection efficiency of over 99.99% in 4 h under visible light irradiation, this nanowire-rich g-C 3 N 4 film was found to perform better than conventional g-C 3 N 4 film. Control experiments showed that the disinfection performance of the g-C 3 N 4 film reduced significantly after hydrophobic treatment. The potential disinfection mechanism was investigated through scavenger-quenching experiments, which indicate that H 2 O 2 was the main active specie and played an important role in bacteria inactivation. Due to the metal-free composition and excellent performance, photocatalytic disinfection by nanowire-rich g-C 3 N 4 film would be a promising and cost-effective way for safe drinking water production.